Huai Tha Khoei Reservoir

Huai Tha Khoei Reservoir sits in the hills of Ban Kha district in southwestern Ratchaburi, close to the better-known Suan Phueng tourist area. It’s an earthen dam built under a royal-initiated irrigation project in the late 1990s, storing water from the Tha Khoei stream for farmland in the surrounding valley. Entry is free, and there’s no set closing time since it’s an open reservoir rather than a ticketed attraction.

Forested hills surround the water, with pine on the slopes giving it a cooler feel than lowland Ratchaburi. A handful of homestays around the shore — Mahad-Thaitara among them — rent out tents and organise the main activities: kayaking on the reservoir, fishing from the banks, and grilled-pork riverside meals in the evening. It’s a modest, locally run operation rather than a resort complex, closer in feel to a rural weekend campsite than a developed lakeside destination.

Facilities beyond the homestays are minimal — there’s no restaurant row, no marked trail network, and mobile signal can be patchy in the surrounding hills. Bring your own food and water if you’re not booking through one of the homestays.

Insider Tip: book a homestay package (tent plus kayak plus evening meal) rather than turning up independently — the reservoir itself has no visitor centre or rental kiosk, so the homestays are effectively how most people access the water.

Watch out: the access road climbs through hill terrain and can be rough after rain. A car with reasonable clearance or a motorbike is fine in dry weather, but check conditions locally during the June-October rainy season.

There’s no public transport to the reservoir — it’s a car or motorbike trip from Ban Kha or Suan Phueng town. Combine it with other Suan Phueng-area stops such as Alpaca Hill or Wat Pa Phra That Kao Noi, both a short drive away.